Goes great with Vicodin (sold separately.)
Posted on 02/02/2005 9:06:52 AM PST by Grampa Dave
France announces aid plan to help crisis-struck wine industry
Mon Jan 31, 4:16 PM ET
PARIS (AP) - The French government announced more than $91 million US in aid Monday for the country's struggling wine industry, hit by falling consumption at home and increased competition in export markets.
The government will also allow the destruction of vines in overproducing regions and apply for EU permission to distill millions of surplus bottles into alcohol, Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau said.
Bussereau said $15 million would be paid out to winemakers in extra grants and tax breaks, along with $71.7 million in loans to producers and co-operatives in financial difficulty.
The government will also pay for 500 vintners to take early retirement in 2005, the minister told a news conference after talks with winemakers' representatives in Paris.
Bussereau said the government had made a "considerable effort" to help the country's winemakers, who are caught between sharply declining consumption in France and tougher competition in export markets. Wines from Australia, Chile and the United States outpaced French exports for the first time in 2003.
The measures announced Monday also included $4.5 million in government spending to promote French wines abroad.
Sales in France - which still account for about 70 per cent of national wine production - have been hurt in recent years by an onslaught of anti-alcohol campaigns and tougher drunk driving laws.
The Senate earlier this month passed an amendment to partially lift alcohol publicity restrictions that critics said made it harder to advertise wine than well-known beer or liquor brands.
Nevertheless, a study published Thursday by Vinexpo, the world's No.1 wine show, forecast that French adults would continue to reduce their wine consumption to an average of about 58 litres per year in 2008 from about 65 litres in 2003.
In order to reduce overcapacity, Bussereau said Monday the government would approve the destruction of vines in regions where winemakers' organizations unanimously called for such measures.
France will also ask the European Union (news - web sites) to approve a crisis plan to distill some 250 million litres of wine into alcohol and pay compensation to vintners.
Some of the winemakers' representatives at the talks said the measures did not go far enough.
The best thing France could do to help their wine industry is to do a full 180 reversal of their foreign policy.
Gee, I guess boycotting French wine had no effect whatsoever. (Probably didn't, but I like to think it did).
I seriously doubt the "falling consumption" at home part,,,and would prefer to think that the increased export competition is a product of decreased demand!
Huh? How does this work?
My wife and I ceased purchasing any and all French products after their latest treachery regarding Iraq. We would buy one or two bottles of French wine a month -- now none. I rather assume we are not unique but are representative of millions of other Americans.
Goes great with Vicodin (sold separately.)
Prices are too high relative to other exporters who offer products of equal quality.
I live in the wine country of California, and the boycott has hammered sales of French wines, waters and cheeses here.
Gee..I did not realize we were such big French wine drinkers previously...Did you hear us, Chirac?
Chile has many excellent wines.
And introduce Chirac to "The National Razor".
Sounds like the French Whine Industry is thriving.
"The best thing France could do to help their wine industry is to do a full 180 reversal of their foreign policy."
I doubt if their pride and super intelligence will allow them to reverse their behavior towards America and the people of Iraq harmed by Saddom.
Same here, Blennos. I was probably getting five or six bottles of French wine a month until two years ago, when like you I began my personal boycott. No question it has had an impact -- some wine shop owners will admit it quietly, but most don't like to publicize it. In the process, I have discovered many wonderful Argentine, Chilean, Australian, South African, Italian (not to mention Washington and Oregon) wines I might not have had otherwise. I do miss my Chateuaneuf du Pape and Vouvray and a few others, but it's been well worth it. I did falter once when the Beaujolais Nouveau came out -- too many sentimental ties -- but that's cheap wine anyway.
The drink and drug of the so called homeless across California!:)
The Cheese-eating Surrender Monkeys just don't get it...
The french themselves stated over a year ago that export sales to the US had dropped by 10%. That 10% is their figure. I think that figure is higher so the boycott of cheese-eating-surrender-monkey wines is having its effect.
RIGHT YOU ARE BTTT!
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